Welcome to New Mexico: The Land of Resistance
Picture an education secretary committed to draining public school coffers by pushing for private charters, for more and more testing, and for ineffective teacher evaluations. Imagine election officials pushing voter fraud conspiracies to justify making it harder for people exercise their right to democracy by voting. Visualize an executive branch that demonizes our neighbors and communities to win cheap political points.
Sound familiar?
I’m not talking about President Donald Trump’s administration, but rather New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez’s. Elected in 2010 as the first Hispanic female governor, Martinez’s term will be remembered as a time when New Mexico’s economy sunk deeper into recession, even as neighboring states, such as Colorado boomed; a time when we went from the 49th to the 50th and back to the 49th worst state in the nation for child well-being; and a time when the governor pushed for more handouts for out-of-state corporations and wealthy donors while thwarting policies that invested in kids and communities, raised wages for workers, and diversified our economy by creating opportunities in emerging sectors, such as renewable energy and healthcare.
But New Mexicans are not satisfied with resistance alone.
But this has also been a time when New Mexicans united to resist her hurtful policies. We resisted by working together against anti-worker policies; by working together to raise the minimum wage in cities, such as Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Cruces; and by working together to increase access to the ballot by passing election reforms, such as online voter registration. So are New Mexicans ready to resist Trump? Hell, yes! We’ve been doing it for years. But we’re not satisfied with resistance alone.
A once-in-a-decade opportunity
Looking forward to 2017 and 2018, there is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to turn things around for everyday New Mexicans. This year in Albuquerque, the biggest city in the state, voters can replace conservative Mayor Richard Berry with a new Mayor who will work with the city council to address the factors underlying the city’s crime crisis while also driving real economic development policies that focus on growing opportunity for local people and communities.
In 2018, the opportunity — and what’s at stake — becomes even greater. It’ll take everyone working together to maintain progressive control of the state House, which has served, arm-in-arm with the state Senate, as the final backstop against Governor Martinez’s political ideology. It means re-electing Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver to ensure that everyone has free and fair access to voting, the fundamental right of citizenship. And the biggest opportunity is to elect a governor who will get our economy back on track with real economic development policies that will offer hardworking New Mexicans the flexibility to live the lives they want, in communities of their choosing, doing meaningful work for which they earn a living wage. After a decade of resistance, 2018 is our time to influence redistricting so that it fairly represents the people of New Mexico, not special interests.
These opportunities are before us but they won’t happen on their own. People who care about New Mexico have a real shot at making things better here. With new leadership we can not only resist but also insist. Insist on opportunities for all hardworking New Mexicans to prosper. Insist on good schools for all New Mexico’s children. Insist that all New Mexicans enjoy the dignity and respect they deserve, regardless of who is president.
For New Mexico, long on the front lines of the resistance, the time to insist on better leadership is now.
Nick Voges is State Director for America Votes in New Mexico. A life-long New Mexican, Nick is an advocate for worker’s rights, education, and gender and racial equity.
